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wifi connection/speed drop out

blackbird57
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎30-01-2019

wifi connection/speed drop out

For several years I've been having intermittent probs with my wifi connection/speed. 

It's unclear whether it's the connection actually dropping off, or the speed going so slow that software (eg browsers & streaming services) cant recognise it & think the connection has dropped. On my laptop i get a little yellow triangle icon appears over the connection symbol on taskbar & it says it's connected but LIMITED. When i do speed tests at this time they are ludicrously slow - less than 1, or simply say it isnt connected. I can make it come back on by disconnecting & reconnecting, but when it's playing up it only comes back on for a few seconds before dropping/going slow again.

 When i do a command prompt continuous ping when it's occurring it shows the response in miliseconds alternating irregularly between under 100 right up to 4000s. And then it resolves & goes back to a steady speed. It can be problematic most of the time for an hour, then fine for an hr, & start again, or be fine (whenevr i'm using it) for days on end, before it starts again. 

It's very intermittent & fits no discernible pattern. 

It has the same effect on 3 different devices - a laptop running windows 8.1, an Amazon Fire TV stick which just buffers itself into a standstill & an android tablet that says it's connected but none of the apps can register a connection. Interestingly my 4th device (a Roku NOW TV box) is not affected by it. On the tablet it can often be solved by restarting the device, but it doesnt fix with restart on the other devices 

I have fibre Hub One Router.

I've followed the standard 'improving your signal advice & tried all the usual fixes in terms of the environment - moving the router, checking nothing in my home is iterferring with it - phones/microwaves etc, all to no avail. 

The signal itself doesn't seem to be an issue as it happens the same on my laptop when i'm 6inches from my router as when i am using it several mtrs away. - eg the problem doesnt resolve

In the plusnet help page 'getting the best WiFi' it says you can check how many other routers are using the channel the router is selecting, & links to the forum but on an initial search i couldnt find any particular thread on that. Perhaps someone could advise me.

 

I am guessing the likely culprit might be my neighbours. I'm in a semi detatched house & they are a large family - 8 people inc 4 teenagers, plus baby monitors & security cameras, goodness knows how many devices they've got lol & all much more tech savvy than me i think, no doubt they've got boosters & all the latest gadgets. 

To be honest i find all the wifi terminology & different things really confusing, I'm not well & About a yr ago i just gave up & started using ethernet cables to the laptop & not bothering with the other things when it's playing up. But I'd love to have a reliable connection again, the problem started suddenly about 3yrs ago, but I've got some significant health issues & not much energy to devote to tech things.

 

Any advice gratefully received. 

 

 

11 REPLIES 11
dvorak
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Re: wifi connection/speed drop out


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MasterOfReality
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Posts: 1,640
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Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Hi @blackbird57 

 

Sorry to hear you are having WiFi issues. 

 

There are a large number of potential reasons for slow speeds and sometimes these are difficult to track down.

 

If you do not have these issues on wired connections, it's likely the problem lies between your router and your devices which we don't have visibility of. (This could well be due to the issues and factors regarding next door that you mention).

 

Unfortunately due to the way WiFi works there are a lot of environmental factors which can affect the wireless signal.

 

Have you tried changing the wireless channels? If not, then please follow the steps here

 

Please let us know how you get on. 

 

Thanks, 

MoR

blackbird57
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎30-01-2019

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Hi MoR thanks for your response.

 

No i havent tried changing the channel. - well not recently... when the problem started 3yrs ago I was with talktalk & i tried every single channel with them all to no avail, but i was going to try again now i wth PN.

As i said in my OP 

"In the plusnet help page 'getting the best WiFi' it says you can check how many other routers are using the channel the router is selecting, & links to the forum but on an initial search i couldnt find any particular thread on that. Perhaps someone could advise me." 

I dont know what channel to change it to  & I'm afraid your link doesnt work MoR, it just goes to a 404 page not found

 

thks

MasterOfReality
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Posts: 1,640
Fixes: 57
Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Hi @blackbird57

Sorry about the link 404'ing - could you try copying this into your URL bar instead https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/router-user-guides/  ? 

 

In regards to channel selection, this is different for both the 2.4 and 5ghz frequencies. 

 

For 2.4Ghz I'd recommend either channel 1, 6 or 11. 

For 5Ghz there really is no preference as they are individual channels (as it were) with no crossover - but i have heard reports of Apple Devices not getting on well with channel 100, so maybe take that into consideration? Forum guys - feel free to correct me on the apple/100 issue as I have only heard murmurs of this from my previous role with a different ISP... 

 

Thanks, 

MoR

 

blackbird57
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Posts: 6
Registered: ‎30-01-2019

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Thanks MoR

 

but i was hoping someone could tell me how to check how many other routers in my vicinity are using each channel before i start changing it. There seem to be lots of channels for both 2.5 & 5hz & it will take weeks to try all the different channels & combinations of channels. As i said i'm not well & i just not able to devote a lot of time to it as i dont have the physical/mental energy...

On the plusnet help page here https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/getting-the-best-wifi-signal/ 

It says...

 

If you're having problems with any router, you should check it's connected to a channel that's as free as possible. There are ways to check how many routers are using the same channel as you, have a look on our forums for more info. If, when you look, your router is using a channel with a lot of routers on it, you'll be better off changing to a less common one.

I want to do this before i start changing channels so i dont waste time/energy waiting to see if the channel i changed to work better - It's an intermittent problem sometimes doesnt show up for a wk.

 

Can you tell me how to do as it suggests please? If not then perhaps someone else can. If not then perhps PN shouldnt be directing people here for that info.

 

many thanks

HarryB
Plusnet Help Team
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Registered: ‎25-03-2015

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Hi @blackbird57, if you've got an android device you should be able to check this with a Wifi Analyzer app such as: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en_GB

 

Advice for other operating systems can be found here: https://www.howtogeek.com/197268/how-to-find-the-best-wi-fi-channel-for-your-router-on-any-operating...

 

I hope this helps.

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 Harry Beesley
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blackbird57
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Posts: 6
Registered: ‎30-01-2019

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Hi HarryB

 

that looks really good i will try it tomorrow & let you know how i get on. Many thanks.

 

This is probably a dense question, apologies for my ignorance, but the channel is what channel the router is on, right? not the device? - ie i just log into the 192.168 address & change the channel my router is using? I dont need to configure the channel for each separate device do i?

Baldrick1
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Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

When you connect to a wireless network the device automatically uses the correct channel.

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blackbird57
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎30-01-2019

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Hi Baldrick, well yes it's supposed to, but apparently it doesnt always. 

 

 

blackbird57
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎30-01-2019

Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

@HarryB that wifi analyzer was very interesting.

 

The 5gHz channel was on 40 & it rated it maximum stars, but the 2.4 was on channel one which it assessed as the worst one.

Looking at whats going on there are no end of other routers near me + 2 wifi repeaters & 3 others using my channel. So am going to change it - lol i am going to ring up tech support to help me so i dont make a hash of it, will let you know how i get on, thanks for your help

Baldrick1
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Re: wifi connection/speed drop out

Before deciding which channel to manually select use wifi analyser to look at your neighbours transmissions both at the router location and where you use your devices as it can vary. It's a case of finding the best compromise.

Setting the channel is not difficult and you are ver unlikely to do any harm if you get it wrong. Simply log into the router by putting 192.168.1.254 into the address fiels (not a search field) on your Internet browser. Log in if requested with the details on the router. Click on the Advanced Settings tab, then wireless then 2.4 GHz if it doesn't automatically land on this page. Here you will find a setting labelled Channel Selection. Nest to the current setting of automatic is a down arrow. If you click on the arrow a drop down list of channels will appear. Just click on the one you want to use. If there's a save field then click that.

Give it a go, it could save you ages hanging on the phone waiting for an Agent to read something similar off their crib sheet.

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